Propeller for flying machines or the like



' April 28, 1925. 1,535,613

J. A. M FARLANE PROPELLER FOR FLYING MACHINES OR THE LIKE Filed .26. 1924 asnt's snt 1 A ril 28, 1925.

J. A. M FARL-ANE PROPELLBR FOR FLYING MACHINESOR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 26.1924

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J. A. M FARLANE PROPELLBR FOR FLYING MACHINES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 26. 1924 VmN A .Q 1 M v gwuewtof J 6- fi /5171x202 J. A. M FARLANE PROPELLER FOR FLYING MACHINES OR THE LIKE April 28, 1925.

t m M m M l a 3 r a. pa t mm m I l .4 i 4 W 2 9 1 a 2 a w m d e 1 i F Patented Apr. 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFict.

JESSE A. MCFARLANE, O'F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

PROPELLER FOR FLYING MACHINES OR THE LIKE.

Application fi led August 26,1924. Serial No. 734,253.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ESSE A. MoFAnLANE, a citizen of the United States, res1dmg at ll-Iilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and of paddle wheels on each side of the flyingmachine and which, as it operates, will not only act to lift the flying machine but also propel it forward.

A further object is to provide a propeller of this character composed of a main support rotatable in a constant dircction, and provide upon the support a plurality of vanes or blades disposed within compartments formed on the support, which vanes or blades are all simultaneously shiftable at the will of the operator so that, for instance, all those vanes or blades moving upward will be disposed approximately in the plane of movement, while all those blades which are moving downward are disposed approximately at right angles to the planeof movement so that thus all the. downwardly moving blades will exert a downward'pressure, while the upwardly moving blades will feather so that there will be no resistance to the movement of the blades in this direction.

A still further object is to provide means Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated-in the accom panymg drawings, wheremzusual cock Figure 1 is a top plan view of a flying machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is an inside end elevation of one of the propellers, tion;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line 4,4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the lnner face of one of the cruciform frames showing the gearing for driving the propeller blades;

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional View through one of the front propellers;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view through one of the rear propellers on the same side of the machine as the propeller shown in Figure 7 to illustrate the relative position of the two sets of blades;

Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional view'of one of the arms, of the cruciform frame showing the air boxes.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the body of the flying machine, which may be of any suitable construction or form. Preferably this body will have a more or less stream-line form andcarry a rudder 11 at its rear end. The body is preferably provided with upper and lower planes 12 and 13 braced from each other by the struts 14, as is usual in the construction of heavierthan-air machines, and the machine has the pit' and the seat 15. Disposed within the body 10 is the engine 16, which may be of any suitable character. Mounted upon transversely extending shafts 17 adjacent the forward and rear ends of the body 10 are the propellers in the general nature of paddle wheels there being a pair of propellers mounted upon each of the shafts 17. These shafts 17 are driven by driving shafts 18 operatively connected to the engine and connected to the transverse shafts 17 in any suitable manner, as by the beveled ing means may be used, however.

Each propeller comprises an inner cruciform frame 20 and an outercrnciform frame 21. These frames are disposed as illustrated in Figure 3 so that the arms of the cross are at right angles to each other.. These arms may be braced from each other in any suitable manner so that each cruciform frame gear wheels 19. Any suitable driv-- the shaft 17 being in secis rigid. Mounted in ball bearings in the inner and outer cruciform frames are the longitudinally extending shafts 22. Each shaft at its inner end carries a gear wheel 23 preferably in the form of a beveled gear wheel and also carries between its outer and inner ends a pair of blades 24, these blades being-disposed in diametrical relation to each other and extending radially from the shaft center.

Disposed between the shafts and separating the space within which one blade operates from the space within which the next adjacent blade operates are the partitions 26. These partitions are relatively thick at the exit side of the blade and thin at the entrance end, and the thick portions of the partitions at their junction with the thin portions thereof are concavely curved, as at 26 (see Figure 9). the concavity being on a curvature concentric to the center of motion of each of the blades 2t so that each blade is disposed within a compartment closed at its sides but open at its ends in the direction of motion of the propeller.

For the purpose of turning all of the blades 24: simultaneously into position so that certain of the blades will feather as they move through a predetermined arc and certain other of the blades will be approximately at a right angle, for instance, to the line of movement and passing through a certain other predetermined arc, I provide for each of the arms of each propeller a longitudinally extending shaft 27 mounted in bearings 25 and carrying upon it a plurality of gear wheels 28 engaging the beveled gear wheels 23. The inner ends of each of these shafts are disposed concentrically to the center of motion of each propeller and carry beveled gear wheels 29 which are engaged by a beveled gear wheel 30. This beveled gear wheel 30 in turn is operated by a steering shaft 31 carrying on it a beveled pinion32 engaging the beveled gear wheel 30, and thus it will be obvious that as the controlling shaft 31 is operated, all of the subsidiary shafts or blade controlling shafts 27 will also be operated. This gear wheel 30 is, of course, loose upon the main shaft and is normally held from movement, while the shafts 27 move around this fixed gear.

wheel and the gear wheels 29 rotate upon the fixed gear wheel as upon a rack. Thus all of the shafts 27 are continually rotated as the propeller operates and thus it will be obvious that as the propeller operates, the blades on one arm of the cruciform propeller will be disposed parallel to the line of motion of the arm of the propeller, the blades on the next adjacent arm will be disposed at a slight angle, the blades on the arm opposite to the first named arm will be disposed. at right angles to the line of movement of the propeller, and the blades opposite the second named arm will also be disposed at an angle midway between the first and third arms.

It will be seen from Figure 9 that each of the spaces or compartments (1 which are defined by the walls 26 constitutes an air box open at its opposite ends but closed on four sides, and that when the blades 24 are turned approximately parallel to the direction of movement of the arm the air passes freely through the boxesand that when they are turned at right angles to the direction of movement, the air cannot pass through these boxes but the air is caught within the boxes, and that when the blades are turned half way or into any other angular relation between the position where the blades are feathering and the'position where the blades are securing a full stroke, part of the air can escape through the boxes but part is retained. Thus it will be seen from the position of the blades in Figure 8 that the blades of the arm which is uppermost in this view are turned into quarter-ing relation so that they are acting to propel and also, to a certain extent, to lift the machine, while the arm which is shown as extending rearward in a horizontal plane has its blades disposed directly at right angles to the line of movement of the arm and, therefore, these blades are exerting a downward thrust, while the blades of the lower arm are disposed approximately in the line of movement of this arm upward and forward and, therefore, exert relatively small counter-thrust and the blades which are on the forwardly extending arm extend directly upward and, therefore, exert practically no force one way or the other but are disposed in a feathering position as they pass through the air.

If now the controlling devices for the blades be operated to shift the blades through a half turn, for instance, the position of the blades will be completely reversed, and if, for instance, they are shifted through a quarter turn, the blades on the vertical arms in Figure 8 will be disposed in line with said arms and at right angles to the path of movement of the arms, while the 'blades on the horizontal arms will be disposed midway between a vertical and a horizontal position and the propeller will then' exert practically no lifting force whatsoever but only a propulsive force and the propulsive force will depend entirely upon the positions of the blades. By reversing the blades on one side of the machine and increasing the propulsive effect of the blades on the opposite side of the machine, it is ohvious that the machine may be turned in either direction and thus the propellers used as steering means.

It will be seen that the propellers may thus be adjusted while the machine is in motion to pull upward, downward, forward or lotbackward. There will be four of these propellers, as previously stated and as illus trated in the drawings, for each machine. The two rear propellers will preferably run opposite to the propellers in front and there will be a difference in adjustment for the blades of the two propellers, as the blades of the rear propeller will be in closed position at the top of the stroke, pushing the machine ahead, while the two front propellers will have the blades closed at the lower end of the stroke, giving the same effect.

lVith the construction as described, the machine may be balanced so that its weight will be directly under the wings or planes so that if the planes are tipped slightly upward it would be impossible for the machine to come down any way except right side up. With this construction, while the propeller revolves twice, the small blades on each propeller revolveonce and the controlling gear may be moved so as to have the'blades opened or closed or be partly opened and partly closed during any part of the circle that the operator may desire.

In the operation of this mechanism, it will be obvious that .whilethe propeller turns constantly in a circle, the blades are also turned in their respective circles and that the position of the blades at any pointin the movement of the propeller will be controlled entirely by the operation of. the shaft 81. This shaft 31 in turn extends into the cock pit and is disposed so as to be engaged by'v gearing mounted upon a vertical shaft 33 which is provided with a steering wheel 34.

It will be understood, of course, that any suitable means may be used for manually rotating the shafts 31 and for driving the I do not main shafts 17 from the motor. wish to be limited to any particular form for the body of the aeroplane, nor for the planes themselves, nor do I wish to be limited to the use of these propellers upon aeroplanes, as the same principle might be used for water wheels or like devices. Thus where this, device was used in water wheels, the wheel would feather as it passed against the current and the full impact of the water would be received upon those blades which were at right angles to the current, etc.

This construction is very simple and in actual test has developed a great amount of power. lVhile I have illustrated a particular means for causing the rotation of the vanes upon their own axes, I do not wish to be limited to this exact mechanism, as it is obvious that other mechanical means might be used which would accomplish the same purpose. Furthermore, it will be obvious that the machine could be operated in such manner that the blades in the rear pro pellers will always open at the top of their path of movement and the blades in the ment of the frame, power operated means for constantly rotating the cruciform frame, and means for causing the constant rotation of the blades, each upon its own axis, and for adjusting the relative angle of the blades to each other 2. A propeller of the character described comprising a cruciform frame divided to form a plurality of compartments on each arm, each compartment being open on those opposite sides of the compartment extending at right angles to the axis of movement of the propeller, blades rotatably mounted in each compartment for rotation on an axis extending lengthwise of the comparment and at right angles to the plane of movement of the frame, power operated means for constant-ly rotating the cruciform frame, and means for causing the constant rotation of the blades and for causing a relative rotation of each blade either forwardly or reversely without interfering with the axial rotation of the blade.

I 3. A propeller of the character described comprising a cruciform frame mounted for rotation and divided to form a plurality of compartments on each arm, each compartment-being open on those opposite sides of the compartment extending at right angles to the axis of movement of the propeller, a

blade extending the length of each compartment and rotatably mounted therein for rotation on an axis extending lengthwise of the compartment and at right angles to the plane of rotation of the frame, the blades on one arm being at all times disposed in quartering relation to the blades on the next adjacent arm, motor operated means for rotating the frame,'relatively fixed means causing the simultaneous rotation of the blades each around its own axis and at the same speed,-and manually operable means for shifting said fixed means to. thereby shift the blades rearward or forward relative to the direction of rotation of the blades.

4. A propeller of the character described comprising a cruciform frame mounted for rotation and divided to form a plurality of compartments on each arm, each compartment being open on those opposite sides of the compartment extending at right angles to the axis of movement of the propeller, a blade extending the length of each compartment and rotatably mounted therein for rotation on an axis extending lengthwise of the con'ipartment and at right angles to the plane of rotation of the frame, the blades on one arm being at all times disposed in quartering relation to the blades on the next adjacent arm, motor operated means for rotating the frame, a gear wheel operatively connected to each blade to cause the rotation of the latter, a series of shafts, one for each arm, carrying beveled pinions thereon engaging the several gear wheels on said arm, a centrally disposed gear wheel mounted concentrically to the axis of the frame, pinions on the ends of said shafts all engaging said centrally disposed gear wheel whereby to cause the axial rotation of the blades as the frame rotates around the center, and manually operable means for shifting said gear wheel to manually revolve all of said blades.

5. A mechanism of the characterdescribed including a rotatable element having arms, shafts passing through the arms at right angles to the axis of rotation thereof, blades carried by the shafts, means for constantly rotating the blades, each on its own axis and at the same speed and inthe same direction, manually operable means for simultaneously shifting all of said blades backward or forward relative to the direction of movement of the blades comprising a shaft carrying each blade and mounted in the frame for rotation, a gear wheel mounted on each shaft, a shaft extending radially from the center of the frame and along each arm of the frame and having gear wheels thereon engaging the gear wheels of the several shafts, a gear wheel concentric to the axis of the main frame, the shafts having pinions engaging said last named gear wheel, and manually operable means for shifting said last named gear wheel to thereby simultaneously shift all of said blades in the same direction.

(3. In a mechanism of the character described. a rotatable frame having arms, a series of compartments carried by the arms, each compartment having its forward and rear ends open, a blade mounted for rotation within each compartment, said blade when turned at right angles to the direction of movement extending entirely across the compartment. means for causing the blades to successively take a position at an angle less than a right angle to the path of movement to a position parallel to the path of movement and to an intermediate posit-ion relative to the path of movement.

7. In a mechanism of the character described, a rotatable frame having arms, a series of compartments carried by the arms, each compartment having its forward and rear endes open, a blade mounted for rotation within each compartment, said blade when turned 'at right angles to the direction of movement extending entirely across the compartment, means for causing the blades to successively take a position at an angle less than a right angle to the path of movement to a position parallel to the path of movement and to an intermediate position relative to the path of movement, and means for simultaneously manually, shifting all of said blades upon their axes.

8. In a flying machine, a body, a pair of propellers at the front and rear of the body, the propellers rotating in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body, each propeller comprising a cruciform supporting frame providing radial arms, a plurality of parallel shafts mounted on each arm and extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the frame, a blade mounted for rotation on each shaft, the frame being divided into compartments, one for each blade, and the compartments being open at their forward and rear ends, motor operated means for simultaneously rotating the propellers, means acting to constantly rotate the blade as the propellers rotate, and manually operable means for simultaneous- 1y rotating all of the blades in the same direction forward or rearward relative to the direction of motion of the propeller.

9. In a flying machine, a body, a pair of propellers at the front and rear of the body, the propellers rotating in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body, each propeller comprising a cruciform supporting frame providing radial arms, a plurality of parallel shafts mounted on each arm and'extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the frame, a blade mounted for rotation on each shaft, the frame being divided into compartments, one for each blade, and the compartments being open at their forward and rear ends, motor operated means for sin'iultaneously rotating the propellers, means acting to constantly rotate the blade as the propellers rotate, and means for si- 1 multaneously rotating the forward propellers in one direction and the rear propellers in an opposite direction whereby the machine may be steadied.

In testimony whereof I hereunto a'tiix my signature.

' JESSE A. MGFARLANE. 

